The year was 1955 and I was a sophomore in high school. I was not yet 16, the driving age. I had worked for my father at his service station for over a year; my mother had to take me to work because it was too far to use the bicycle. This particular afternoon was not unlike any other. My father was sitting behind his desk doing service station paperwork and as I approached, he said (without lifting his head), “By the way, I bought you a car; it’s out back and I will take the $50 out of your pay.” I was excited and apprehensive at the same time, because he never asked me what kind of car I might like. I rushed out back and there sat a 1937 Chevrolet four-door sedan with the original crappy brown paint. Just the kind of car a teenager wants, right? The good news was, it had four wheels, it ran, and I would soon be getting my driver’s license.

The Chevrolet and I got along well, but the U-joint behind the transmission always seemed to break — I am sure it had nothing to do with me trying to get the old Chevy to burn rubber. This was the beginning of my mechanical training. Changing the U-joint was a very nasty job, but after a while, I got good at it and, as time passed, I got the job done faster. To get rid of the crappy brown paint, I primed the car dark gray. I also replaced the original taillamps with 1948 Chevy taillamps and painted the wheels with 1954 Ford “salmon”-colored paint. I thought it looked great, but my father thought it made the car look like a hot rod.

At some point, the speedometer quit working. No problem, because our next door neighbor operated a speedometer repair shop. It was over 10 years later that my father told me he had our neighbor set the speedometer 5 MPH faster. That probably explains why I never got any speeding tickets.

My mechanical skills were improving as I hunted for the proper parts at the local junkyard. Parts at the local parts store or the Chevrolet dealership were way too expensive for my budget. One day, I called the junkyard looking for a part and, to my surprise, they had what I needed. I asked if I should bring tools. The party on the other end of the phone said, “Don’t bother. I have a liquid wrench that fits anything.” As I was driving to the junkyard, I was trying to visualize this wonderful magic tool. We did not have anything like that at my father’s station. When I arrived at the junkyard, I was introduced to the acetylene torch. Another lesson learned for my aspiring mechanical training.

About a year into my relationship with the Chevy, it was rear-ended late one night by a 1950 Buick, which did major damage to the Buick’s “buck tooth grille.” The Buick was towed away and I drove home — a fine testament to the solid construction of old Chevrolets. I sold the Chevy to someone who just wanted transportation and did not care what the rear of the car looked like.

1956 Volkswagen.

The year was now 1956, and I needed a car. A new dealership in Spokane, Washington, had just opened, selling a small car called a Volkswagen. I had never heard of a Volkswagen and had no idea what one looked like. I was earning the minimum wage of 75 cents per hour working for my father, and I had managed to save $800. The sales representative told me the 1956 Volkswagen cost $1,640, about $1.00/pound. I was short about $840 and not sure what to do. My father knew all about loans, and with his expertise, he arranged a loan for the needed amount. I am sure the loan was in his name, but I was able to pay it off in two years. So here I was, a junior in high school, driving a brand new car. Cool!

For the next six years, the Volkswagen took me through high school, marriage and then through college. In those days, the Volkswagen was so new and different that all VW owners beeped the horn when approaching another Volkswagen. The only major work I remember completing on the 1956 VW was a valve job. I used to drive often between Spokane and Seattle, where I attended college. The road was mountainous and it seemed like I was passed by the same cars dozens of times on the uphill grades. The 36-hp engine was adequate for everywhere but the mountains, but I would pass them on the downhill!

When I graduated college, in 1962, my wife and I took the car to a VW dealership and traded it in for a new 1962 VW. I received an $800 trade-in on the new VW, which cost $2,040. What a deal! I have never been able to duplicate low-cost transportation like that again.

SUGGESTED READING

Autobug2says:

April 25, 2017 4:15 pm

Wow…probably the earliest new-owner of a Bug I’ve ever read about! Bugs in `56 stood out like a sore thumb; when everyone else is driving cars 3 times the size, it was laughable to come upon a VW! Very interesting that his Dad would be inclined for his son to buy a foreign car in those days; most fathers would’ve probably opted for something American. Bet he didn’t miss that `37 Chevy sedan for a minute!

SCOTT NJsays:

April 25, 2017 4:28 pm

Great story! Absolutely awesome that your dad bought you a car.
Attempting to burn rubber caused me to separate the motor mount on my mom’s 53 Studebaker. When the engine lifted from the modest torque the fan blades scraped on the fan shroud and made a god-awful sound. That sound was very effective at keeping me from attempting that stunt very often. Maybe that is why dad never fixed it.

TommyMsays:

April 25, 2017 4:33 pm

Bruce Hsays:

April 25, 2017 8:58 pm

Roger Harrisonsays:

April 26, 2017 12:26 am

My first car – in 1959 – was also a ’37 Chevy which also cost fifty bucks – and, like the author, I saved the money from a job pumping gas and doing lube jobs. Mine, however, was a coupe and had a rod knock that would vibrate the steering wheel at anything over 35 miles an hour. It had been owned by Don Bowden, famous at the time for almost breaking the four-minute mile, which is about what that Chevy could do. The radio was somewhere under the dash, but the dial was round and attached down low on on the steering column. To start it, you turned the key and stepped on a floor button next to the clutch pedal; but it also had a toggle under the key that would shut off the ignition. When my deadbeat friends refused to cough up gas money for cruisin’ main (this was San Jose, CA) I’d flip that switch back and forth and claim we were running out of gas. Worked the first time. I traded it for a ’39 Ford coupe a friend had built with twin carbs, dual pipes, glasspacks and eldelbrock heads. Unfortunately, he’d been so eager to drive the car that he’d forgotten to fill the crankcase and had scored the cylinders and turned the main bearings. It ran, but barely. Wish I had it now.

April 26, 2017 5:40 pm

Joesays:

April 26, 2017 9:21 am

Stevesays:

April 26, 2017 9:25 am

My first car was a “crappy brown” 1938 Chevy two door, purchased in 1954 for $25.00. When I went away to school I donated it to the local Boy Scout Troop. My next car was a ’60 Morris Minor, bought in 1961. But I spent several of the intervening years driving my dad’s ’57 VW Cabriolet, waving at the other VWs on the road.

76Impalasays:

April 26, 2017 9:26 am

My first ‘car’ was a new ’65 Jawa 50cc scooter. I was quite tall and thin at the time and when riding around on this small Czech made scooter…I’m sure some would think the circus must be back in town. I got my first car, a ’61 VW Beetle a few years later, but nor before a succession of Czech. made CZ motorcycles and a ’65 Yamaha YDS3 Catalina 250cc, Super Sports motorcycle. That Yamaha was one of my smallest vehicles I ever owned, but had the longest name …by far…of any vehicle I ever had.

I was glad to get off motorcycles and get into a car, I must admit. It was a lot warmer in the V-Dub, then on a bike, although a VW was not renowned for having an effective heater.

Joseph Hudgionssays:

April 26, 2017 9:26 am

It was before my time but my father purchased a late thirties Chevrolet in 1946, after he got back home from WWII. I don’t know how much he had to pay for it but cars were in very short supply then so I’m sure he had to pay more than it was worth. Apparently the Chevy had some sort of vacuum assist device to make shifting the three on the tree easier; in the event the transmission would not stay in gear without the driver holding onto the gear lever. At some point before I was born (in 1951) the old stovebolt got swapped for a 1946 Plymouth, a car I do have some memory of.

My first car was a 1961 Ford that I purchased for $75 in the late spring of 1968. The car would barely run under its own power but it didn’t matter as I had a “good” 223 CID six that got swapped into it. I drove the Ford through my senior year of high school; it wasn’t much of a car but it was better than no car at all. As many of us can attest cars from that era required much more maintenance than cars from today; I drove the Ford for about 9 months and it that time I had to replace the starter and the generator.

Bob Bryantsays:

April 26, 2017 9:32 am

In 1949 I was a junior in HS. My mother bought a 1937 Chevrolet Master Deluxe Business Coupe which allowed me to have a part-time job six miles away. The previous owner had installed an after-market push-button starter. It had long strips mounted under running boards which served as antennas for the radio. I immediately installed a conventional antenna which provided better performance. The ’37 article reminds me of many teenager experiences! My next car was a 1946 Plymouth 4-door. Memories!

Paul Tsays:

April 26, 2017 9:37 am

Great story! My first car was also bought by my dad without my input. A 1962 Ford Falcon with the 170 CID six and the 2 speed automatic. This was 1966 when I was just 17 years old and needed a car to commute to college and dad sprang for the $500 it cost. I managed to put about 20K on the car in 5 months before finding a 1963 Valiant convertible calling me on a used car lot nearby. The Valiant held me a year or two until Uncle Sam decided he wanted me to visit a small country in Southeast Asia that I had never heard of. Dad reimbursed me $500 for the Valiant and it went to my sister to continue the tradition.

Eric Ripleysays:

April 26, 2017 10:09 am

Interesting story. I’m a bit surprised about the prices. Over $2,000 in 1962 seems quite high as my folks here in Nova Scotia bought a new 68 deluxe bug for what I think was $1,850. The deluxe had a 1,500-cc, bright trim around the rear windows. whitewall tires, gas heater, and a nicer interior. Not sure what the Canadian dollar vs US dollar was at the time.

John Youngsays:

April 26, 2017 10:19 am

Thank you for sharing your wonderful story mine was somewhat similar but was with the 38 Buick that I paid $75 for with a loose main bearing . Never did fix the bearing because it didn’t act up until you got over 60 miles an hour. Got into Volkswagens with a 57 sunroof and at age 84 I am still driving Volkswagens. Some of them have said Porsche on their rear decks but I still have a concourse Bay Window and a Thing.

Sal Pugliesesays:

April 26, 2017 10:43 am

I fully realize I have no business in this blog, which consists of crappy old first cars of youth ….My first car on my 17th birthday (driving age in NJ) was a brand new 1963 Fuel Injected Stingray Roadster … my second car was a 1965 396/425 Stingray … Sorry !!

Barry Thomassays:

April 26, 2017 1:19 pm

Sal Pugliesesays:

April 27, 2017 11:34 am

Barry… To expand on the story, my first choice wasn’t the Stingray… My dad owned Pontiac Bonnevilles and I watched Pontiacs dominate drag racing in the early ’60’s … I was awe struck after seeing Arlen Vanke appear at my local drag strip ( Island Dragway ) in the summer of ’62,in his SS/S 421SD Catalina, Tin Indian II.
Watching him dominate the Chevy’s (including Dave Strickler’s Old Reliable 409) and 406 Fords, I decided on a 1963 Catalina 421SD on my upcoming birthday in April ’63. To my surprise,GM cancelled the 421SD program in January ’63 and the only engine available to me would be the street version of the 421SD with hydraulic lifters and Tri-Power rated at 370HP… A very formidable street performer, but not the fire breathing SD I wanted!
Reluctantly, I ordered the Stingray !!!
Looking back, the Stingray was an infinitely better choice, as it was somewhat streetable vs. an Aluminum bodied race car with no business on the street … But the exuberance of youth was fortunately trumped by GM brass!

Toivoksays:

April 26, 2017 10:58 am

After we came to this country in 1950, my dad bought a 1940 Chevrolet two door sedan with a propensity to catch fire on its own. Dad worked nights and Mom worked days so I was left to my own devices during the day. So, at the tender age of 5, I decided to entertain the boys next door by going for a drive which we accomplished by getting the car into gear, any gear, and pushing the starter button on the floor thus herky jerky ing the car forward….Straight into a former pond with a brick border, thus hanging up the car in the middle. For some reason, my best buds scattered with little explanation (I didn’t speak English nor French at the time) thus leaving me to face Dad alone when he woke and needed to get to work! I did survive that one!

Fred Puhnsays:

April 26, 2017 11:15 am

My experience was almost identical. I was a high school student in 1955 when I prepared for getting my first car. I had a short list of available used cars: a supercharged Graham Hollywood for $800, a Cord roadster for $1000, and a supercharged Auburn Speedster for $1200. Of course I had to borrow the money from Dad. As the funding source he chose a 1948 Studebaker Champion 4-door sedan with overdrive for $120. I had to pay the money back also. I loved having a car but hated that one (dull performance, horrible handling, not sporty, etc.).

Finally I saved up the money to pick out my next car. It was a 1954 Morris Minor convertible!

Richsays:

April 26, 2017 11:19 am

Always great to read/hear of others stories, prticularly concerning cars.I was taught to drive by my dad back in 1952 when I was 14 so I could dig out a a basement under out house and load dirt on to an old 39 or 40 chevy pickup and haul it a couple miles away, all while dad was at work. I would “enlist” a couple of pals (who were a year ot two older) to help me just so they could learn to drive a little. They both got their drivers license b4 I was old enoughto get mine. Then when I turned 16, I failed my test because our old 47 Plymouth did not have a working emergency brake! I was so upset I asked the guy giving me the test if I got it fixed that same day, could I come back and take the driving portion (I had already passed the written part.) He agreed, so I went to local (Mt.Vernon,Ohio) dealer and after they tried to fix it they said it needed a new rachet not in stock, so I start home boiling angry at my dad for having such an old “junker”. B4 getting out of town, smoke starting boiling up under the car. We (one of my buddies I taught to drive was with me) jumped out of the car and he looked underneath and hollowed “it’s on fire”! I flagged down a passing car and started to have him take me to fire station, but my buddy threw his just purchased milkshake into the fire and was able to put it out. So I went to dealer and complained to them. They had tried to adjust the emergency brake and it was ok till it became warm, then hotter and hotter, from driving. It finally got too hot and started to burn….I know not what. Finally made it the 20 miles home and next day borrowed my aunts 50 chevy coup and drove 20 miles to another town (Millersburg,Ohio) and passed my test! I fell on love with an MG TD that was sitting for a couple days in our small town. I knew some day I would have one. I’ve now had 7 or 8 of the T-series MG’s over the years, but after many years without one, I recently I found a 1955 MG TF 1500 “barn basket case”, which I bought. I know I’m a complete idiot at my age, to undertake a rebuilt job (particularly with quite limited skills and a faulty memory) but I refuse to die without trying one more time to enjoy the only car I’ve always had a “love affair” with. Anyone out there who has any contacts for old parts…keep me in mind! I’m sure there are many other guys out there who understand how I feel. Thanks for the great stories fellows.

Uncle Frannysays:

April 26, 2017 11:23 am

My first car was a $5 1954 Ford wagon. The V8 engine had over 98,000 miles on it and body filler on both sides to keep the coolant in. Being a Minnesota car it was missing the bottom 4 to 6 inches of the body panels. Oh yes the fond memories of the smell of exhaust and rotting carpet diving down the back roads. My father found out about it a month and 1/2 later.

Jim Mcsays:

April 26, 2017 11:29 am

I remember a time when I was 16 or 17 that I had a chance to buy a beat up old Buick for $50. It didn’t run, and would need towed. When I looked in the trunk and found what was left of the transmission and driveshaft, I realized why it only cost $50. But it had a V8 so I still wanted it. Fortunately my father talked me out of it and I did not buy the car.
I suddenly realized that same car now would cost $2000 in the same condition:(

Davesays:

April 26, 2017 11:41 am

Ref. getting good at replacing u-joints, I was similarly self taught and trained on 2nd gear cluster in my 55 Chev. 2nd gear was really long legged pulling from 15 mph to 60 mph. Used that way the transmission was out of the car about once every 6 weeks or so.

Ron Byarsays:

April 26, 2017 12:12 pm

At fifteen years old I was saving every cent I made and bought a 1935 Ford tudor in1952 for $45. It ran so to speak most of the time, leaving me stranded only a half dozen times. Burned so much oil I would buy “used oil” from the local gas station for 10 cents a quart and clean the plugs at least every couple hundred miles, remember the sand blast plug cleaner at 5 cents a plug? Like todays race cars I ran “slicks”, which is to say four totally bald tires which was fine except when it rained. Never seemed to be able to get those mechanical brakes to work in sequence so stopping in bad weather required you to hold your breath and steer to keep it going straight. But it was my first of many cars I’ve owned and brings back some very fond memories.

Todd Carrollsays:

April 26, 2017 12:50 pm

My first car was a 1967 VW Bug that I bought from my future Step Grandfather for $15. He was deaf so he wanted a lower rumble sound in the car when he drove it and changed out the mufflers to “Monza” mufflers which effectively removed the heating in the car. Really cool sound! It also had 60 series tires on the rear. I learned about speed shifting (and how to place a screwdriver into the transmission to pop it out of second gear when it got stuck from speed shifting!). I added flared fenders and a gas heater to the car, but I still had to have friends scrape the ice off the inside windows when driving down the road; I too live in Minnesota. I think my dad and step mom worried a little about it and she wanted a new car so she sold me her 1977 Dodge Aspen, with the slant 6. The car had all the amenities, like heat and seats that moved (not because of rust). I still miss the VW. Hopefully will get another some day!

Chucksays:

April 26, 2017 1:15 pm

Great story, Terry Brinson. The comments are interesting too!

I was driving my dad’s ’49 Chevy pickup in high school (’62-’63) but wanted to buy my own car. The one I longed for was a ’56 Chevy Belair two door post, with a 265 and three-on-the-tree. It was $600., about $500 more than I had. My dad wouldn’t even consider signing for a loan, so I suddenly became frugal, and saved nearly every dollar earned pumping gas at the local Richfield station. Even at $1.25 per hour, and 15-20 hours a week after school, it was possible to save $300 more in a few months.

My friend’s mom had a ’49 Chevy business coupe sitting out in the sagebrush behind the house. I could have it for FREE. Such a deal, no engine, transmission, driveline, windshield, and no interior! But, it had a perfect rust free body, and reasonably good factory paint. As it happened, I found another ’49 business coupe at a salvage yard that drove and ran great, but had been customized (ugly, ugly frenched in headlights and other distasteful body redesign-with gray primer paint), and had a beautiful black and white “tuck and roll” naugahide upholstery and headliner inside. It also had a sweet running 265 Chevy V-8 with a three speed truck transmission that bolted to the old torque tube (gear lube filled) driveline that those Chevies came equipped with.

Needless to say, I spent my $300 on that ugly customized eyesore, and proceeded to merge the two cars. I wasn’t very handy, but my friends at the station helped, especially with some welding adaptation for motor mounts. And with stretching the headliner in perfectly.

I then was the proud owner of a mostly stock looking little business coupe, except for 820/15 Goodyear Double Eagles on the rear, stock 670/15 tires on the front, narrow white walls, black rims, and “Baby Moon” hub caps. A local custom exhaust shop fashioned dual exhaust pipes with glass packs, and I was on the road! No payments, either. Thanks, Dad!

Doug Bartholomewsays:

April 26, 2017 1:17 pm

I can’t compete with Sal, but my first car experiences were right up there. My Dad taught me to drive in his red 1966 Buick Wildcat Gran Sport with a 425 V8 and positraction. What a cool car! A year and a half later, I bought my high school English teacher’s car for $175, an ivory 1957 Chevy Bel Air Sport Coupe. I’ve had other interesting rides– a 1966 T-Bird, a 1954 Olds Holiday 88 hardtop, a 1948 Buick Super convertible, and a 1952 Hudson Hornet 2-door– but the Wildcat and the Chevy are still among my favorites.

Lee Matthewssays:

April 26, 2017 1:30 pm

In 1953 my Dad found a 1936 Chev Master coupe for $65.00 and brought it home for me. It was actually my second car to replace my 1926 Model T. I paid Dad back and drove it to college. I would fill the knee action schocks with fluid and in a couple of days they would leakdown. My girlfriend and I had a lot of fun in that car (I can’t go in to all the details) I remember she wanted to carve her initials on the steering wheel but I would not let her.

JRsays:

April 26, 2017 2:26 pm

I don’t reminisce about my first, a 1964 El Camino from the Pittsburgh PA suburbs. Paid $50, more than it was worth, kept an expense log, over $2000 the parts and labor add up !! Too rusty, dr door hard to open because frame was bent (labor cost to have frame straightened), mystery wiring short that would cut off all electricity at random times. Sold for $50 when I joined the NAVY and was told that the new owner totaled it and the only salvaged item was a forged crankshaft. I DO reminisce over the rust free bodied 1964 El Camino that I bought parts from for my car. It had a bad frame but I did not have the insight to buy it and combine with good (straightened) frame on my car. Oh well.

Scott S.says:

April 26, 2017 2:39 pm

I was (and still am) rather different from other car buffs in my automotive tastes as I had (and have) little interest in high-performance vehicles. As a teenager, I bought my first car in 1965 at the nearest dealer. The car recommended by the salesman was a 1961 Chevrolet Bel Air 2-door sedan with the 235 CID 6 cylinder, Powerglide, heater, and little else. The Bel Air itself was fine, but I disliked the inconvenience of two doors and manual steering. About a year later I commenced seeking a car that I wanted in a 4-door.

I now find that search amusing, since most of the car salesmen tried to sell me two-door cars or made comments such as “That’s a strange car for a young person to want”! It took months before I found my choice: A 1961 Chrysler Windsor 4-door sedan with the 383, TorqueFlite, power steering and brakes and even air conditioning. I loved that Chrysler so much that I’ve owned mostly Mopars since then (currently, three late-model Dodges and a 1964 Imperial), but I still have a “soft spot” for 1961 Chevys.

Normsays:

April 26, 2017 3:12 pm

Liked your story. I’m the same age as you, but didn’t get a car (a ’53 Chevy) until I was a college soph. Two years later, however, college being so cheap in those days and opportunities to earn money so prevalent (boy were we lucky) that I was able to buy my second car brand new just like you. Paid $1635 cash for a new ’61 Ford Econoline pickup. Had about the same umph as your VW. I drove it all the way across the country more than once. The view out that enormous windshield made the West seem like a cinerama movie.

Brian Indunisays:

April 26, 2017 4:21 pm

I saw the picture and memories came flooding back! The year was 1974, I was 9, and I saw an old car in a farmer’s field by my house in Vermont. “Make your best deal” my father told me. The next day I came home and said “I made a great deal with the farmer for the car, and he’s going to deliver it!”. When I told my father the great deal was the car in trade for his tractor, what could he do but be proud of his nine year old car nut.
1981 I turned 16 and took my driver’s license test in the 1937 Chevy Master Deluxe hot rod I had spent the last 7 years building – 350 sbc with a 4 speed, flip front end, custom oak running boards, and blue velvet interior. What a chick magnet…

Steven Syzdeksays:

April 26, 2017 5:02 pm

It is interesting to read all these stories. My first car was a 1970 Ford Torino GT. It had a 351 Cleveland with the Shaker Hood Scoop and a Hurst shifter. It was $1700 in 1973 my Dad cosigned a loan to buy it. We lived so close to my High School, I was only allowed to drive it to school one day a week. It was a fun car. I replaced it with a 1968 Plymouth Satellite 4 door with AC. The Torino had no AC and it was tough driving in Las Vegas with no air conditioning. A few years later, I sold the Plymouth and bought my dream car, a 1966 Ford Thunderbird Town Landau (with AC of course). Now I wish that I had all those cars. My daily driver is a 1979 Toyota FJ40 Land Cruiser with factory air. I have a grin whenever I drive it.

Doug Bartholomewsays:

April 26, 2017 6:46 pm

Clark Kentsays:

April 26, 2017 7:39 pm

1965. First car @ age 15, 1938 Chevrolet 4 Door Sedan, $135. Second car @ age 16, 1937 Chevrolet 2 Door Sedan, $125. Third car @age 17, New 1966 Rambler American 440 2 Door Hardtop. 290 V-8, 4 speed, vinyl top, ww tires, reclining seats. $1927 out the door in March of 1967.Had all 3 as Junior in High School. All 3 went away in 1970 while overseas in USAF. Cannot get them back, but some great memories remain.

Dave from Canadasays:

April 26, 2017 8:33 pm

I bought a 1937 Chev 2dr when I was 10 years old for $40 in 1966.
On the farm and back roads my buddies and I put many miles on that plug fowling oil burner ( My dads unlocked farm gas storage tanks for the tractors sure were handy)and with a pillow on the seat we could see out.
My buddies and I used to sit on the front fenders and hold on to the headlight and take turns driving tooooooooo fast.
WHO in their RIGHT MIND would do that today!!!!
I don’t know how we did not kill that car or ourselves!

Larry Olsonsays:

April 26, 2017 9:31 pm

In 1953 I was in high school; my brother gave me his 1931 Ford Model A. The next year my Dad bought a 1940 Chevy for $125. The Chevy front end failed and Dad helped me buy a 1950 Ford Custom 2 door for $800 in 1954. I drove that car until 1958 when I borrowed money from Dad to buy a new 1958 VW Glacier Blue with a sunroof! I drove the VW for 65000 trouble free miles until 1963 when I traded for the worst car I ever owned! A 1960 Peugeot! Two kids just didn’t work in a VW. Many cars later, I still look back at my first four cars with great appreciation. Each one was so different and each one was a learning experience in maintenance and repair. I changed my own oil, did tuneups, brake jobs and various other necessary tasks of automobile ownership.

Brian64SSsays:

April 26, 2017 10:20 pm

My dad’s approach was quite the opposite. I had worked the summer of ’81 at the local auto parts store and had saved up a few hundred dollars for a cheap car and the expensive insurance for a 17-year-old. My brother’s friend had a ’73 Malibu coupe with only 60,000 miles stored at a friends farm and was willing to let me have it for only $500. I asked my dad to go along with me to look it over. His reply: “If you want a car, you make the decision. Not only am I not going with you to look at it but I won’t help you fix it and I don’t want to hear about it if it doesn’t work out.” Dad was a tough-love sort of guy. Anyway, that turned out just fine for me. It was a great deal on a great car I had a blast with through senior year of high school and for 6 years total. I put 70,000 miles on it with little trouble, learned a lot about bodywork and paint, maintained it well and sold it for $600.

Dean Adamsays:

April 27, 2017 3:26 am

My first car was a red/black 1967 Plymouth GTX , convertible , with the 4 speed, and that funny looking engine with the spark plugs down in the center of the huge valve covers. Cost $1500 with a blown engine.
Sold that car for a quick $2000, and bought another red/black 1969 GTX, 440-4 speed car that actually run perfect ! It cost $1700.
I came from a small farming town called Trochu, Alberta. And we actually had 3 hemi cars, some 427’s, 440’s, 428’s, etc, but don’t recall any small block cars except for a couple 340 t/a’s. I had heard stories of 150 mph in a charger, so on the second day, temptation took over. I was travelling down a quiet hiway near home, and put the pedal to the floor. It got to 135 with no effort, but started to drift like it wanted to lift off the runway. I kept pushing it , and I seen the speedometer hit the magic 150 mark, and glanced at the factory tachometer far into the red zone. Suddenly I seen a fast approaching bridge that was posted at 40 mph due to a ramp effect of a collapsing bridge. My mind was racing faster than the car, and I hit the ramp of the bridge, and I knew NOT to let up on the gas pedal when the car was air born, that would have same effect as slamming the emergency brake- so there I was- 3 feet in the air at over 150 mph, with the rpm’s maxed out.
I remember bracing for impact, but the car landed in a straight line, and the engine was knocking like crazy. I put the car into neutral, and coasted for 3 miles with a blown engine.
I soon turned into a home grown auto mechanic. But while I was fixin the 440, (one of 5 engine builds) I found another 69 GTX blue auto with a missing engine, then a wrecked 69 Road Runner with a built 383. I merged the 2 cars, then took turns driving each one.
The local police seemed to take notice, and on more than a few times I watched them in my rear view mirror, fading into the distance with the cop lights flashing away.
This one particular night I was driving home from Calgary at 90 mph, and popped over a hill to a radar trap. I was very tired from a whiskey weekend, so I pulled over and stopped. The RCMP policeman was a younger guy who admired cars. But that big flashlight he carried spotted what we called a Texas Mickey of whiskey on the back seat, it still had a quart or 2 left in it. Luckily I was stone sober, but he was going to ticket for speeding and open booze bottle, then he bragged about his new Police Interceptor they had just got, and that my losing the cops days were over, claiming the cop car went 160 mph.
We both looked at each other’s cars, when I said to him….lets make a deal…. I said “it’s 2 miles to the 3Hills turnoff, let’s race, but if I win…then no tickets. “. He smiled, and agreed.
We staged, and I pulled away on the start, he hung in there but was at least 1/8 mile behind in a 2 mile race.
I then went on to buy a 1971 Orange Challenger RT, 440-6pack, loaded with leather, power windows, louvres, spoilers, and one of one 6 pack cars with factory sunroof, a promotion car built for hockey guy named Bobby Hull, but somehow he never got it.
Only one short police chase where the cop missed a curve and bounced into the trees. It was my special Sunday only car, I rarely drove it, and ended up buying a 71 corvette for my beer drinking days at age 18. One memorable chase happened enroute to a hot first date with my future wife, I knew the backroad better, had to pull over to wrong side of road while crossing the RR tracks to avoid some bad potholes. I crossed at 90 mph no problem, the police car skidded back and forth and into a couple circles. I slowed down for 3-4 miles, then suddenly I seen the cop coming full force. I had just drove over a hill and turned left to a gravel road, and punched the pedal while doing that ‘look over your shoulder’ to see if the cops would get over crest of their pavement and see my taillights. They didn’t, and I was relieved I got away, stopped looking over my shoulder, and calmly looked ahead.
There it was, a nightmare, 2 deer, asses to the ditch, heads in center of road kissing. Sitting low in that corvette, the deer looked big as elephants. The ditches full of trees, so I braked, aimed for center of their “kissing” heads, closed my eyes, and braced for impact. Seconds later I opened my eyes…..nothing, not even deer in the rear view mirror, only my heart pounding. 1 mile later I arrived at GF’s house. I was still shaken. I told her to drive, she was excited to drive a corvette. I never told her about the police chase, so we slowly drove to her town. I got out at the corner store to run inside for a soda, and kept glancing back at my date, and suddenly a cop car skids to a stop beside the corvette. 2 cops jump out, look at the “hottie” behind the wheel, I was still in the corner store, and hid behind the bread isle. A few minutes passed, I had finished the soda, so I left the bread isle and walked back to the car and jumped into the corvette. The police car was down the road with lights flashing. We went the other way.
Sold that car 1 year later for a $1000 profit.
Went next to a 1970 Chevelle SS 454 450 hp. It was not as fast as my 440-6, so put on headers, high rise, carb, accel, bored out to I think it was 480 inches, cam, etc.
I raced it beside the 440-6, the Chevelle was ahead 2-3 lengths until about 110 mph when the six pack with the hemi purple shaft and tune, it easily passed the pumped up LS6. Unfortunately sold that car, but made another $1000 profit.
Next came a 1968 blue Shelby in exchange for my 69 GTX. Had 2 events with that car, completely lost the brakes in city traffic with no emergency brake, and another occasion on the side hiway, there was a sharp 45 mph curve, people bragged stories about 70-80 mph, so I tried it at close to 90. I felt the trying to skid. I was gripping the steering wheel in full force. I had never known that Shelby and some Thunderbird cars had not only tilt wheels up and down, but also went up and sideways to allow easier exit from the car. It was in this speed curve I shockingly discovered this ! What a thrill ! Sold that rust bucket for $4000.
A dozen corvettes passed through my hands, I still have a pair of 1990 ZR-1’s, as well as a early Porsche turbo, but one car I loved was a Porsche 928s. Such a fast cruising car, much better than my corvettes. Set a personal record of 1850 miles from LA to Calgary in 22 hrs.
Currently a BMW lover, a rare DINAN X5, and a tweaked triple black M3 cabriolet.
Next car will be a Z06, or maybe just a can-am maverick turbocharged SxS.

Paul Mathlesssays:

July 13, 2017 1:40 am

Well, nobody else is volunteering, so I guess I’ll say it. Dean Adam, your story is pretty terrifying to consider. That you didn’t kill yourself and others is hard to explain. Mind you, I got more speeding tickets in my youth than anyone should have, and once in dead-flat western Kansas on a straight road with a clear view for miles around in any direction I pushed my new 240Z up to 125 mph, but that was just for a second before I slowed down to a reasonable 75. Going airborne and running from cop cars never entered into it. I always considered myself a safe, if aggressive—in the sense of efficiently moving my car through and around poky traffic—driver. It sounds like you wouldn’t care to say the same, even if you honestly could.

Jeffsays:

April 27, 2017 6:28 am

My first car was a 50 Dodge coupe…..faded black, three speed fluid drive semi automatic…meaning you could start up in third gear and race against grass growing. The faded paint bothered my teenage mind enough to buy enamel and a brush and paint the car one sunny weekend. She looked great until Monday’s rainstorm.
Plaid seatcovers obscured the many rips in the single bench seat. I paid $50 for the car and counting paint and covers, spent another $35 “fixing” it up.
My next automotive victim was a 56 VW that had been imported from the Motherland by some American GI. It had the small oval rear window of ’56 vintage and semaphore turn signals that angled from behind the door pillars. (Girls loved that feature) 36 HP and no gas gauge (not installed factory wise until 1968) The speedometer was of course in kilometers per hour so things seemed speedier than they really were. The aftermarket radio was installed under the passenger seat so if I wanted to change stations I needed to tell my passenger that I was not molesting her, just adjusting the radio. I blew up the engine in trying to emulate the Nurburgring on the southbound Garden State Parkway Raritan River Bridge in my native NJ. The Bug was sure fun while it lasted.

david adinolfisays:

April 27, 2017 6:57 am

Brian64SSsays:

April 27, 2017 7:50 am

I think the point is that Dad did the wise shopping and the dealing. The son or daughter only had to pay him back. I suspect there were times when Dad said it cost $X when it really cost 2 or 3 times that much and he was giving the son or daughter a break.

51 Ford Guysays:

August 17, 2017 3:28 pm

Juriesays:

May 2, 2017 10:34 am

Brought up in a small town Ceres in the Western Cape South Africa where my father was a hairdresser/watchmaker,juweller, smaal farmer. I had to work in his shop after school, then get the eggs from the 2000 chickens, then separate the cream from the cows milk , clean and polish the shoes of everybody in the house. My father never bought a car in his lifetime so every time I saw a car with its bonnet open I would rush to inspect the engine and to ask questions.
in the little spare time I had, I repaired bicycles and the old grammaphones [those that were wound up with a crank handle] I bought new bicycles from my father and had a good trade going. Also bought boxes of grapes and sold it on the sidewalk.
I bought my first car, a 1935 V8 Ford from a garage and stored it at a friends house where I fitted new spring bushes etc.
My parents never knew about this car and I drove it only one night. I never replaced the missing windscreen for it was just too expensive.
As motor mechanic apprentise I said to the bank that my sallery was 12 pounds a week [It was 12 pounds a month! Borrowed 40 pounds and bought an Austin A 40, 1951 model. It was running on three cylinders and it jumped out three of its gears. In the next 25000 miles I fitted rings twice and overhauled the engine twice …Including reboring of the engine block! I think I was too hard on the little car! At that time there was no speed limit outside of towns so we all drove as fast as the car and road allowed us. [Now I have been driving for 62 years and never had an accident ! Very lucky!!}
My next car was a Borgward Issabella 1957 model which I traded in om a 1959 Mecedes and so on. I must have owned more than a hundred cars including a “Daimler steyr puch Haflinger” DKW jeep, Subaru etc. All the cars was bought second hand and in need for repair.
Please pardon my bad spelling,I am Afrikaans-speaking.